Against All Odds
by CSM
Summary: Time Travel. Going back in time. Changing the future is not an exact science but he knows if anyone can do it, it's her. If there is one thing Eleanor Queen can do, is be a hero. After all she has heroes' blood pumping through her veins.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** Warnings it's heavy on the angst. Major Character Death takes place in the FUTURE.

The story itself will be told from Oliver and Felicity's daughter's POV and takes place post 3x14.

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 **Spring 2037**

Barry Allen stands in an abandoned Star Labs, his heart clenching at the sight. Two decades full of memories fill these walls and sometimes he can't believe what has come of it. There are cracks along the walls, layers of dust gathered along the semi circular table. The mannequin that used to stand so proudly on display - housing his suit - is now down to its bare bones, a limb missing. It seems fitting that Barry is back here, in this room that basically represents what his life has become in the last few years.

The scraping of metal against his collarbone though reminds him why he's doing this in the first place. His fingers clench around the gold wedding bands, the small bit of light in the room catching on his late wife's engagement ring. This is one of the many reasons why he's doing this, he can hear the sounds of sirens echoing in the distance, a sound that has become as natural as birds chirping in Central City.

This was not the future he envisioned, not the future he thinks Harrison Wells spoke of either. He shudders at the man in question; it's been almost 2 decades since he's thought about him.

"Uncle Barry?" A soft timid voice calls out, bringing him back to reality, "I know this was a ridiculous plan, we don't have to do this if you don't…"

"I really don't want to." Barry says bluntly, his mind numb at the thought of his past mistakes.

After all the alternate worlds and time travel all those years ago, he made a promise to himself to never mess with the cosmic order of things. He hates the fact that he can't even take her there himself, after all if he could have gone back in time he would have done it on his own and left her out of this. He hasn't ran in so many years, his body aches for it like a long lost friend.

Yet here he is looking at his 20 year old niece, wondering if he's making the right decisions, sending her off into this abyss of the unknown. She's dressed in an old, worn pair of blue jeans, a purple hoodie thrown over a tank top and her runners. She looks so much smaller, reminds him of the small child he used to know. He made a promise to his friends that he'd keep her safe, keep her out of harm's way, but yet here he is throwing her head first into the unknown.

Granted he knows this entire plan was her idea and she came to him rather than just going off half cocked on her own, but he can't help but wonder if he is giving her a death sentence by helping her achieve her goal.

"But….you're right this is the only way." Barry says solemnly. He looks at the various trinkets on the old table and frowns. "Elle, you can't take those back with you. Twenty years in the past, those things are all but a pipe dream."

Ellie frowns at his words, her blond hair whipping against her face. She looks at her electronics with a crestfallen expression. Her fingertips graze the glass plated devices with such love, and care it takes Barry back to eons ago when another blond showed electronics the same kind of affection. He shakes his head, pulling his thoughts out of the past yet again. He blames it on the room, there have been too many memories filling this room. The ghosts of the past may very well be haunting him. If it were true he knows Cisco would be the first one to visit him. He can't help but smile in memory of his fallen friend. It's been awhile since he's been able to think of his friends, of his family, in such light.

"Uncle Barry!" Ellie calls out in exasperation and Barry just knows it's not the first time she said his name. She's gathered her blonde hair into a ponytail now and Barry is beginning to wonder if a baseball hat is the most feasible option to hide her identity.

Ellie takes one look at him and rolls her eyes. "You worry too much, Uncle Barry. No one is going to know who I am. Unless this thing gives out on me mid travel and drops me to 6 years in the past instead of 22."

"Let's not jinx it." Barry pleads. He places his hand on the less than sturdy table and watches as Ellie packs her bag. "Now remember, your goal is not to go looking for anyone. Keep your distance at all costs. We do not need you messing up the timeline."

"I thought the whole point of this trip was for me to change things?" Ellie quips.

"Eleanor." Barry warns. He knows she's teasing; he knows that humour is how she compensates when she's nervous. "Look a lot things happened in 2016 and I need you to fight the urge to fix them. It sounds easy enough, but once you meet people….people you care about...it makes it ten times harder to resist. No matter where you end up and who you can save, you need to ignore it and just focus on your goal. Find the stone and bring it to Star Labs, give it to Cisco. He is the only one you're allowed to come into contact with, are we clear?"

He watches as Ellie's shoulders drop the cool facade she's adopted the past few hours finally slipping away. His heart clenches when he sees her fiddling with the platinum wedding band on her right middle finger, even from his vantage point he can see the emerald stones glistening in the dimly lit room. He takes a cautious step towards her, his hand hovering nearby. Her outward appearance and demeanour just screams her mother so much that Barry forgets sometimes that she truly is her father's daughter. "Ellie."

She turns to look at him her eyes red, "I wanted to just see them. I know we agreed on Cisco cause...I... I don't need to talk to them, but I've forgotten the sound of their voices. It's been five years, what if I forget what they look like next?"

Barry sighs, opening his arms as she takes a step forward and buries her face in his chest. Despite, everything she's been through in the past 5 years, Barry seems to forget that she's still a kid. He rubs her back soothingly, remembering a time when she was so small she practically fit the length of his forearm. "Is this why you came to me with the idea of using Cisco's E.G.G...that really was the lamest name he has ever come up with."

"It's a play on words especially with time travel, which came first the chicken or the egg? If you go back in time is your past still the past, or the future? If you do change something, then your past is no longer your past, so then what really came first?"

Barry grins at the typical ramble - his niece hates mysteries. That particular conversation is something she and Cisco use to talk about for hours at end when she was still a kid. Barry places a kiss at her temple and pulls back to look at her seriously. "Ellie, you know you can't warn them about what happened. Hopefully, if you leave the breadcrumbs for Cisco we will be avoiding all of this and most importantly you'll have a better place to grow up."

Ellie nods, sobering up at the severity of his words, she bites her bottom lip with uncertainty, "What if I fail?"

Barry sighs knowing their is no words of reassurance that he can give her. He can't tell her that she is their only hope. He can't put that kind of responsibility on her shoulders. He made a promise to his friends that he'd protect her no matter the cost and in this instance he takes a page out of his parenting book instead of his superhero book, "Then we'll figure something else out."

"That's a lie," Ellie says bluntly, her eyes narrowing, but that typical annoyance she has so reminiscent of her father, is not present. Instead she just sighs deeply. Her eyes well up and she pulls Barry into a fierce hug. "Thank you for always looking out for me, Uncle Barry."

"It's you and me against the world, kid." Barry echoes his words from four years ago, his emotions getting the best of him.

Ellie squeezes Barry one last time and pulls back wiping her eyes quickly. She takes her backpack and slings it over her shoulders, the small purple E.G.G that very much resembles its name is clutched in her hands. She fingers the buttons at the very top nervously and looks at Barry panic stricken. "What if I appear in Star Labs? How do I explain that? Maybe we should have done this in a non-disclosed area, just in case. None of you are particularly fond of time travel in 2016."

"Hey, relax that won't happen. We know how the talisman in the E.G.G works. It requires you to think about the time and place. You're going to think about Star City. I gave you enough money to get you by for at least a month, but you shouldn't need more than that. Just try and stay off anyone's radar, but if you do happen to cross paths, be it in Jitters or a random electronic store then remember your name is Ava."

Ellie grins at Barry sheepishly. "I have to check out the vintage tech, Uncle Barry. Don't deprive me of that. I mean we're talking iPad Pro and Mircosoft's Surface Book. That's so old school I have never seen one."

Barry can't help but laugh at her enthusiasm. "You're such your mother's daughter."

Ellie grins proudly at his words, "If the fire didn't happen at our house in Ivy Town, I would have been able to see her Windows 95 desktop. She was such a hoarder. Daddy always complained about that."

"Yea, I'm sure she had Zach Morris' phone-booth like phone as well." Barry quips.

"I don't know who that is," Ellie says her nose wrinkling in confusion. "You're so old Uncle Barry."

Barry points a warning finger at Ellie and the girl only giggles in return. They both sober up and sigh; the reality of what she's about to do comes crashing back to them. They both know that once she leaves, either he will cease to exist or she will appear in a few moments having failed them all. Neither outcome sounds pleasing to him, but he knows it is what needs to be done. Despite all the heartache and pain over the years, he'd never want to forget the past five years with his niece, as cheesy as it sounds she saved him in his darkest hour. He knows what she is doing won't just be to save their families, but also save their cities as well.

He watches as she holds the E.G.G in her hand and looks at him one last time before she presses the buttons on either side of the E.G.G and he watches as she fades away before his very eyes.

He knows she was never meant for this kind of life but if there is one thing Eleanor Queen can do is be a hero. After all she has heroes' blood pumping through her veins.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to all of those who took time to review it really meant a lot to me and I'm glad you're giving this story a chance :)**

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Once her head stops spinning, she slowly opens her eyes and takes in her surroundings while still on high alert. She's in an alleyway, next to an abandoned building. There are no sirens, no vehicles. There is nothing to be heard. She looks at the E.G.G in her hand and worries that she might have gone back too far in the past.

"Why is it always an alley?" She mutters to herself. She looks up at the sky, the dark clouds looming above her. "Why is it always at night?"

"Hey, sugar you lost?"

A deep voice calls out from the shadows and Ellie's body tenses, going into high alert once again. She slips the E.G.G. into the pocket of her jeans and then she spins around to the source of the voice. She grips the strap of her old backpack, the stray edges tickling the palm of her hand.

"What you got there little girl?" A young man, no older than Ellie steps out from the shadows dressed in all black. His eyes are bloodshot and he's looking at her with a wild expression, Ellie is almost certain he's on something.

"Don't touch my bag," Ellie warns already heading towards the street.

She gasps in surprise when another man almost towering over her 5 foot frame steps up in front of her, laughing maniacally at her expression. "Where you goin' in such a hurry, baby?"

He makes a move to grab her backpack but Ellie is too quick for him and side steps his advances. She bites back a smile at the surprised look on his face when he stumbles. "It's none of your business."

She takes a step away from the tall dude, but the short shuffle behind her has her spinning around and her hand flying to catch a greasy hand before bloodshot eyes could blink. She grips his thumb between her hand and twists it forcefully, revelling in the way the man winces in pain.

"Like I said it's _none of your business_ ," she growls. She twists the man's thumb forcefully dislocating it with a final pop. The man howls in pain as he staggers back, and collapses against a wall.

"You fucking bitch," he hisses out in pain, cradling his dislocated thumb against his chest.

"So I've been told," Ellie remarks dryly. She barely has time to turn around before she's yanked back by her knapsack.

She does not even give the tall guy time to react before she is spinning on her right heel, her left leg raising off the ground and delivering a swift kick right in the nose. This time she hears the crack of breaking bones and she tugs back her bag just as tall guy goes crumpling to the ground. "I told you not to touch my bag."

She presses the worn MIT bag to her chest, uncurling the kinks in the sides where the man grabbed it. The stitches have unfrayed in numerous places; there are patchworks that have their own patchworks; the canvas-like bag is as wrinkled as they come, but Ellie clings to it like a lifeline. She's so busy examining the bag she does not hear the footsteps behind her until she feels someone grab her by the ponytail yanking her backward. The only reason her baseball hat remains on her head, is because she slipped her ponytail through the strap.

She growls in annoyance and bends her arm jabbing her elbow in the direction of her attacker. When she hears a grunt in response she uses his distraction to her advantage and she yanks herself out of his grasp. She barely takes two steps before a pair of hands grab her around the throat and she gasps out in surprise. She grabs onto her assailant's hands, her nails digging into his fingers, but he won't loosen it.

Her vision begins to become spotty and through her lightheadedness, the only thought running through her mind is that she can't believe she failed her mission before she even started. She can feel the oxygen slowly depleting in her system, her limbs going lax as she thinks about her parents, her Uncle Barry, all the people she has failed.

Then she hears it, the familiar _thwick_ as an arrow cuts through the still night air. Her assailant releases his grip almost immediately and she grasps her own throat coughing eyes water as she tries to catch her breath. She looks to her right just as two more _swishes_ fly past her ears, but her vision is blurry and she can barely make out the hooded figure standing on a fire escape pointing an arrow at her fallen attackers.

Her heart ceases as her vision begins to clear, the shadow falling over the figure making it impossible for her to see. She clutches her bag to her chest, eyes wide as she watches on, hope building within her. Could it really have been that simple? She knows she made a promise to her Uncle Barry, but she's not going to just walk away from an opportunity if her father is standing _right_ there.

She's so distracted at the not so mysterious stranger she does not hear one of the goons behind her move until she feels a sharp pain in her forearm. She hisses in pain when she sees her hoodie torn and red blood begins to seep along the frayed material.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

She clutches her arm and spins around in a split second, surprising her attacker and before he has time to react she's raising her leg and slamming her boot into his chest sending the man flying back into the brick wall, hitting his head against with a thud.

She then hears the sound of footsteps approaching and she spins around, her arms out defensively, her hurt forearm staggering slightly.

"Just want to check your arm." The modulated voice is terrible, but the dark red hood is obvious and Ellie's heart deflates only slightly in disappointment

It's been years but Ellie can recognize that ridiculously defined jaw anywhere, even with the red mask. After all, where she comes from, supersuits are things of the past. He takes a cautious step towards her, her three attackers are all knocked out from either Ellie's doing or the red hood's and the moment Ellie sees his face, she utters the first thing that comes to mind, " _Roy._ "

She realizes belatedly that was not the thing to say. Roy staggers backward, and he has his bow positioned before she can blink. "Who are you?"

"Shouldn't you be _denying_ who you are, rather than asking me who I am?" She can't help but quip. "Isn't that some kind of superhero 101 thing?"

Roy doesn't move, but she can see his eyes narrowing behind the mask. "I'll ask you again, who are you?"

"I'm a friend of Sin's!" Ellie explains quickly. Never before grateful at her inquisitive mind at 10 years old, that would demand to know every story since her parents met.

Roy's look does nothing to hide his doubt, but he lowers his bow nonetheless. He then looks at her forearm that she's cradling against her chest. "C'mon, I know somewhere we can go so I can take a look at that."

It's Ellie's turn to narrow her eyes now, and she looks at him suspiciously. "I haven't even told you my name yet."

"We all have our secrets," Roy says with a shrug of his shoulder. He looks across at the fallen attackers. "Besides it looks as though you can take care of yourself. That's some serious power you have in that kick."

Ellie cheeks pink up at the praise, the only person that has ever seen her fight is no longer alive to appreciate it and so the praise is a welcome surprise, but she can't ignore the small pang in her chest when she thinks about her fallen aunt. Not that her Uncle Barry hasn't been helpful in that department, but ever since he lost his speed, she's tried her best to keep her training the last few years a secret.

A secret she is still paying for almost a year later. Ellie presses her fingers against her temple rolling her fingers once, twice and then breathing deeply. She counts back from three and when she opens her eyes Roy is looking at her, alarmed. "What?"

This time it's Roy who shakes his head in return, "You just reminded me of someone."

"I'm sure many people countdown to calm themselves." Ellie brushes off, avoiding eye contact as she clutches her bag to her chest, wincing in pain when she remembers the cut on her arm.

"C'mon let's get that checked out before it gets infected."

"I'm not going to the hospital." Ellie all but growls, unsure exactly where her uncle wants to take her.

Roy snorts as he gestures to his suit. "Do I look like someone who frequents ERs?"

Ellie shrugs her shoulder, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "I don't know. You might want to visit the children's ward and cheer them up."

"Pretty sure their parents would have me arrested before that," Roy says dryly. "Us suits aren't exactly _welcomed_ here. Or tolerated? I can never keep up with SCPD stands on us most of the time."

Ellie nods as he speaks, following him silently, her mind starting to piece together what time she is in. The fact that Roy is standing next to her in a red suit luckily gives her a very small window to determine what year she came back to. The fact of the matter is however, she definitely overshot with the E.G.G and now she is much further back than she originally planned 2014 and 2015 weren't exactly good years for her parents. Well for the most of 2015.

She just crosses her fingers and hopes that it is not Christmas 2014. She did not travel over 20 decades to come back to the one time her family thought her father had died to save his sister. She know she made a promise to her Uncle Barry but she _refuses_ to watch her mother suffer that loss, not if she could prevent it.

She is literally disregarding the very first rule of time travel.

This was a terrible idea.

"Hey kid, you okay?" Roy's concerned voice pulls Ellie from her battling thoughts.

"I'm not a kid," Ellie snaps automatically, always hating that particular nickname, the throbbing in her arm beginning to increase. She looks up at the green 'Verdant' and frowns in confusion.

"You old enough to go in a club?" Roy counters.

Ellie scowl in return only earns a laugh from her hood wearing uncle and he presses a hand to her shoulder ushering her into the closed nightclub. "I'm the manager. We're closed for the time being, but we have a first aid kit."

"Can you take off that modulator? It's creeping me out." Ellie says, she doesn't bother to point out that those modulated voices still rule her nightmares _years_ later.

Roy seems to have to picked up on her tone and she hears the familiar beep of the modulator cutting off. "I'll be right back."

"You have suture kits just lying around here?" Ellie calls after him as he disappears behind the bar.

She tosses her bag onto the counter and slowly peels off her hoodie wincing when the material sticks to her forearm. She slides onto the stool and examines the cut closely. She grabs the bottle of vodka on the counter, uncapping it easily and then pouring the clear liquid over her wound.

"I'm guessing this is not your first rodeo with these kind of injuries?" Roy asks with a tone of disbelief as he tosses the suture kit next to her. "You going to do that yourself?"

Ellie scowls. "I'm right handed."

Roy silently takes the kit and opens it up with practised ease. He looks at Ellie with a scrutiny that she is not all too comfortable with and then points at the old scar at Ellie's collarbone, "That another war wound?"

Ellie looks at the scar and suddenly smiles in memory, her smile surprises her uncle, but Roy silently waits for her to continue as he begins to administer the lidocaine to the tissue surrounding her cut. "Broken collarbone, I got this when I was five. I wanted to prove to the boys in my class that I could climb to the top of balcony in our school's auditorium, and well let's just say mary janes aren't meant for climbing wooden pillars. I don't think I've ever seen my mother so mad."

"What kind of mad?" Roy asks his meaning clear, his hand hovering over Ellie's wound as he looks her in the eye, almost like he's trying to read her mind, it's disconcerting to say the least. Her Uncle Roy has always been able to read Ellie like a book, no matter how little they saw of each other in her life.

"Oh _no_! My mother wouldn't hurt a fly!" Ellie can't help but protest the very thought, she then wrinkles her nose. "Well that's a lie, she _really_ hated bugs. She was...was an amazing mom. She'd never."

"I'm sorry." Roy whispers sympathetically.

He pats the wound dry, covering it with a bandage and then squeezes her arm in comfort and Ellie has to fight everything in her not to wrap her arms around him like she did as a kid whenever he'd visit them. This 20 something year old kid is not her uncle, she can't go to him about her troubles and expect him to give her sage advice, or just cheer her up when her parents are irritating her. This is _not_ her uncle Roy, he might sound and act like him, but she knows that he's not who she thinks he is, and if this is how she's reacting to seeing her uncle that she's only seen a handful of times over the course of her life, she can't even begin to imagine what would happen if she sees her Aunt Thea or worse her parents. She is finally beginning to understand why her Uncle Barry warned her about staying away from her loved ones.

She did not do months of research, venture back into her abandoned house to gather intel and drill her uncle for weeks about information about his friends and family for her to mess this up just cause she can't hold her tongue.

She needs to get the hell out of Starling City before she ruins her perfectly crafted plan.

"It happened a few years ago." Ellie supplies, and she has to bite the inside of her cheek to hold back her groan of disbelief.

She just gave herself a mental pep talk and already she's airing out all her dirty laundry to her uncle and it was a good pep talk.

"It doesn't make it any easier." Roy supplies.

He disappears behind the counter, but before she could question him though, he pops up with two tumblers and pours them each a liberal amount of alcohol. At her raised eyebrow he shrugs. "You look like you could use the drink. I won't tell if you don't."

Ellie grins at his comment, this man might not be her uncle but without even realizing it he does the very thing they have done all her life. Whenever he would visit, he'd sneak some sweets that Ellie was not allowed to have after dinner and they would sit on the roof of her house and share them together. Roy always promising her that he wouldn't tell if she didn't.

Ellie sniffles slightly hiding it behind her glass as she takes a sip of the vodka, this time her sniffles aren't because of her parents. Coming back to the past is turning out be much more difficult than she ever anticipated.

She looks up when she sees a bare hand offered up to her, Roy has his hood pulled down and his mask hanging around his neck, looking at her expectantly, "Roy Harper."

"Ellie." It slips out before she catches herself, and she just sighs in disbelief, she really fails at this time travel thing. "Fuck me."

Roy's eyes widen comically, and in hindsight Ellie should have realized how that particular comment would appear to him, but before she can apologize a low growl alerts them that they are no longer alone.

"Roy! Are you using your suit to pick up girls?"

An all too familiar angry voice rings out, the sound of high heels echos on the concrete floor as their wearer approaches them. Ellie closes her eyes not believing her rotten luck, not that she should even be surprised. It figures the moment she decides to distance herself from any possibility of running into her family her aunt shows up. And what's worse she's almost pretty sure her aunt is jealous of Ellie and Roy and just the thought of that makes Ellie want to puke.

"Thea Queen, Owner. And I'm almost 100% certain I can have you arrested for underage drinking."

Ellie is so fucking screwed.

Her aunt's nose is turned up in disgust as she takes in Ellie's worn hoodie and jeans, her eyes lingering on Ellie's Seattle Mariners baseball cap for a brief moment before she looks across at Roy accusingly. "Is she even _legal_? Roy does the Arrow know that you are…."

"Please, do not finish that sentence." Ellie all but begs, she ignores Roy's offended expression, and slides off the stool to look her aunt in the eye.

The cropped hair, the distrust in her eye, it's not a look Ellie is used to and the realization causes a familiar ache in Ellie's heart to resurface. Her aunt looks young, so much younger than Ellie could imagine. Thea's dark brown eyes are the only thing that seems familiar to Ellie, but the hard look of distrust is not. Ellie gathers her wits along with her backpack and looks at her aunt, trying to appear much stronger than she feels.

"Who are you?"

This was a mistake. She shouldn't have come back here. She was not ready to see these faces again.

Ellie braces her injured arm against her chest, holding back her wince. "I am no one. Just passing through. Roy helped me out with some assholes who can't mind their own business."

Thea's eyes narrow as she looks at Ellie, the scrutiny is familiar to Ellie, only it's usually accompanied by Thea trying to figure out if Ellie is lying to her or not. Nevertheless, Ellie finds herself squirming in her spot, her grip tightening on the strap of her bag. But to Ellie's surprise Thea spins to face her uncle looking at him accusingly.

"You told a random stranger who you are? Do you not know how dangerous that is? Hell you didn't even want to tell _me_. I had to figure it out for myself."

"I already knew!" Ellie replies quickly, wincing when Thea turns on her her eyes narrowing and full of suspicion. That look she is not use to, the level of distrust and just completely devoid of emotion cuts Ellie to her core "I'm a friend of Sin's….a friend that is going to get out of your hair and not get between whatever this is."

She gestures between the two her nose wrinkling in disgust yet again, she does not need to be involved in whatever is going on between these two. She's vague on their story in this time and does not need to step in nor does she want to, hell she's still not sure what year it is.

Roy's Arsenal and her aunt Thea knows about it, that gives her just about... fuck, no good came from the winter of 2015. Her parents aren't even together yet, she should have never introduced herself to Roy.

She needs to get out and get out now.

Ellie ignores Roy's offended expression and swipes her bag from off the counter with her good hand, "Thanks for the help."

She's out of the door before either of them could stop her and question her, her legs going as fast as they will allow without her breaking out into a run. Her heart hammers in her chest as she keeps replaying that look her aunt gave her. Her Uncle Barry warned her about this, about the feeling she will get when she meets someone she loves and when they look right through her, like they don't even know her.

She just didn't think it would hurt so much. The lack of recognition was one thing, but for her aunt to just automatically not trust her? Ellie didn't think it would hurt as much as it did. Her Aunt Thea was the only person that got through to Ellie after her parents died.

* * *

 _Fall 2032_

 _Fifteen year old Ellie sits on the roof of her house the city lights reflecting in blue eyes void of any emotion. The chilly winter air nips at her bare skin, blowing her newly dyed blonde hair in her face, but she's too numb to move, too numb to care._

 _Today is the first day she does not have family constantly hovering over her. Today is the first day she only has her thoughts to herself. Her mind replaying the moment her uncle John walked into the house, his eyes filled with tears, in the fifteen years she's known her uncle, she's never seen him cry before._

 _Tears begin to fill yet again, the cold air almost stinging against her face now, but Ellie only soaks in it, allows it to numb her inside and out._

 _"Ellie! Ellie! Eleanor!" She ignores her aunt Thea's calls, wrapping her arms around her stomach and crawling into a ball._

 _She just wants it to stop, she wants the pain to stop._

 _One more moment, that's all she wants. She just wants more moment with them, to tell them that she's sorry. Tell them that she's not angry at them for leaving._

 _She just wants them to come back._

 _She wants her Dad to tell her those cheesy jokes that has her rolling her eyes._

 _She wants her Mom to tucker her into bed as she sings Ellie's favourite song from Mulan._

 _She wants them back_

 _A large blanket suddenly engulfs her and the warmth starts starts seeping through her skin. Hands on her shoulders rubbing vigorously against her skin, soft words lost among the howling wind._

 _"Ellie. Baby bird."_

 _"Mommy?" Ellie whips around at once, but her heart crumples when she sees her aunt Thea with matching dark circles, her eyes red rimmed and Ellie knows her aunt has been crying just as much as Ellie has._

 _"C'mon, let's get you inside." Thea takes hold of Ellie's shoulders and hauls her to her feet, and Ellie just allows her to pull her along._

 _"I just want it to stop hurting." Ellie confesses, her voice breaking as they step into the chilly attic._

 _"I know. There is something I want to show you." Thea's voice is raw as she speaks and Ellie doesn't even want to look at her._

 _Ellie doesn't want to see her own pain reflected in her aunt's eyes._

 _"Tea, I just want to be alone." Ellie begs, the childhood nickname she called her aunt slipping out._

 _She resists her aunt's urges to pull her out out the cocoon of the cold attic. The only place Ellie has found solitude since that fatal day. It's the only place that does not remind her of her parents. The attic is filled with old boxes and a rickety old bed that apparently was a gift for her father from her mother (Ellie has blocked out the reason why a bed of all thing was a gift) but other than that the room is bare and just allows her to breathe the first time in days._

 _"You will be, just come with me." her aunt urges, soft hands on Ellie's back rubbing it in slow soothing motions, just like when Ellie was a kid._

 _Ellie sighs but allows her aunt to drag her out of the attic and down the first flight of stairs, they continue until the head to the basement. The basement that had been converted into a fighting space years ago for her father._

 _Thea walks to the left side of the room and tosses two of the boxing gloves at Ellie, and Ellie fumbles with them, but she is able to grab the tails before either slips between her fingers._

 _"Do you want me to beat the crap out of you?" Ellie snaps angrily, her confusion evident. This is not what she had in mind._

 _She was not really sure what she thought her Aunt had planned, but it certainly wasn't this._

 _"You could try." Thea says with a scoff, the first hint of a smile tugging on her lips in days. "You're angry at your father."_

 _"Aunt Thea." Ellie warns, her fingers clenching around the strap of the boxing glove, her knuckles turning white._

 _She did not sign up for a psych session._

 _"He went to look for your Mom and he never came back." Thea continues as she spins a sparring stick, Ellie can see the anger rising within her aunt. "We all accepted that we'd loss your Mom and he takes off to find her. He left you."_

 _"Stop it."_

 _"He left you, Ellie. It's okay to be angry."_

 _"Stop!"_

 _"He abandoned you. His only daughter. He went chasing after a ghost…"_

 _"STOP IT!" Ellie screams angrily, "Yes! I'm angry, are you happy, now?"_

 _"Put on the gloves." Thea instructs, her own eyes brimmed with tears, when Ellie doesn't budge Thea narrows her eyes, "Eleanor."_

 _Ellie huffs but slips on the gloves nonetheless allowing Thea to help her tie them in place. "What now?"_

 _Thea spins on her heel and whacks the punching bag with her sparring stick the sound echoing around the large basement. "Hit it, with all you got. Just like you were taught."_

 _Ellie eyes the punching bag with unease, "you want me to picture, Dad? I don't know if I can do that… I don't...I can't…."_

 _"All that anger you felt, you remember that?" Thea prompts almost like she's aware Ellie's about to shut down again. "I need to you to channel THAT."_

 _With that final word she whips her stick against the punching bag in anger, "Think about your anger. Let it go. Go on Ellie."_

 _Ellie takes a deep breath, her last conversation with her father playing in her head. She begged him to take her. She begged him to not go. She begged him not to leave her too._

 _He promised her that he'd bring back her mother._

 _With that final thought Ellie raises her hand and punches the bag with all that she's got, her body vibrating at the power behind it. She hits it again and again, that conversation playing over in her head. Over and over._

 _She suddenly feels an arm wrap around her waist and tug her back and both she and her aunt go tumbling on the ground. Blood is pounding in Ellie's ears, her chest heaving with ever breath she takes._

 _She lies flat on her back looking up at the ceiling and for the first time in days, the vice grip around her heart seems to have loosen._

 _Her aunt says nothing, just lies on her side watching Ellie closely, she doesn't ask Ellie how she feels. She doesn't ask Ellie to talk, instead she rises to her feet with ease, and holds out her hand to Ellie._

 _"Again?"_

* * *

Ellie collapses on the motel bed in frustration, the dust gathering around her head only making her cough. It's bad enough she has to work with ancient internet, but her tablet seen incapable of accessing any of the databases she has on her list. The worn notebook has seen better days, but Ellie wrote down the information for a reason. She looks at her tablet the spinning flower like it's almost mocking her now, the very reason why she wrote information down.

Time travel 101. Never rely on electronics that are 2 decades before their time to work.

The problem with this latest issue is that she now needs a computer to use, one that has the capabilities she needs. She needs a secure computer, she's good, but encrypting decades old computers that she's only ever seen in videos or in museums are so in her wheelhouse.

There is only one person that can help her and the thought both terrifies and excites Ellie.

She needs her mother's help.


	3. Chapter 3

Ellie hangs around the back entrance of Verdant later that night, watching as people come and go, the crew going back and forth as they take trash out of the back, she waits until the door is clear and slips through the metal doors.

She pulls down her baseball cap, knowing that if someone sees her dressed in all black and definitely not out clubbing they are going to get suspicious. She slinks along the walls, moving between bartenders and patrons alike, going over the layout of the club in her head, glad that she had the foresight to quiz her uncle about Verdant even though he thought it made no sense since they moved base later in the year.

She finds the door leading to the basement with ease and she pulls out a small diamond shaped knob, a mock up of a skeleton key that her mother made years ago. She presses two of the edges and bright red light turns green almost instantly. She sighs in relief, at least one of the future gadgets work in this time.

Ellie pushes the metal door gently and pauses at the top of the stairs, her ears trained for any noise, but breathes a sigh of relief when she hears nothing. She was hoping that she would be able to slip into the Arrow cave, find the information and then leave without anyone knowing a thing.

She wrinkles her nose when she sees the set up, the entire Arrow cave looks rudimentary compared to what Ellie remembers when she was a kid. There certainly aren't any play areas that was specifically designed for Ellie and Sara when they were toddlers.

Ellie tosses her bag on a nearby table and then slides into her mother's chair. She spins around to face the series of computers, but freezes at the familiar sight. The computer's screens facing her are in sleep mode, the keyboards sitting on the desk slightly askew, but Ellie goes back to a time when she would sit on her mother's lap playing with a tablet as her mom works the comms. Five year old Ellie wasn't quite aware of what was going on, at the time she just thought her parents were playing a very intense video game, and when all was said and done, Ellie would chat happily with her dad until he came back to the bunker, none the wiser.

Ellie shakes her head, clearing her mind of her past, she needs to focus and get out of here. She can't let the past haunt her anymore. She clicks the keyboard with familiar ease, frowning when the lock screen comes up, she expected this, but she thought her override would have by passed it.

Ellie sighs, knowing she has all of three chances before the computers not only go into lockdown but probably alert her mother than someone is trying to get into her systems. While the prospects of seeing her mother is appealing, Ellie knows that this is not the circumstance she should be seeing her mother as well as she is not sure she could handle seeing her mother in the first place.

The brief encounter with her aunt still has her slightly shaken as it is.

Ellie's fingers click across the keys with easy, and growls when she gets the error message, why did her mother have to be so paranoid?

Ellie bites her lip in frustration, her eyes trained on the blank computer screen as she tries to think up a way to overcome her mother's passwords the normal way. The sudden sound of high heels clicking on the steel stairs has Ellie freezing in shock. Her heart hammers against her chest as Ellie holds her breath, part of her praying it's her aunt again, a small part of her hoping its that one voice she hasn't heard in over half a decade.

"Oliver Queen! You better not be messing with my computers! Who am I kidding of course you are, that's why I got the notification that someone signed into my computers. I told you the search will take at least 24 hours. I know things with your new BFF are all kinds of stupid, but you...you aren't Oliver."

Her backs to the stairs, but Ellie doesn't dare turn around. She's not ready, she doesn't know if she'll ever be. She clenches her fists when her hands refuse to stop shaking. She takes a deep laboured breath, trying to calm her racing heart. The footfalls have stopped and she knows her mother isn't going to stay quiet for long and will call in the calvary any minute now.

"Who are you?" This time her voice is hard and forceful and Ellie just knows from experience that her half-assed excuses aren't going to cut it.

"I need your help." Ellie says her voice wavering slightly.

She bites her lip, cursing for letting her emotions get the best of her and takes a deep breath yet again.

"That wasn't my question." Felicity counters

She blinks back the tears that are threatening to fall as she finally spins the chair around to face her mother, who is standing at the weapons table an arrow head clasped between her fingers, very much in a defensive stance.

Her mother's blonde hair is tied up in one, glasses perched on her nose and she is impeccably dressed, exactly as Ellie remembers. There are fewer age lines along her face and her dress is a little shorter than Ellie remembers her ever wearing, but for all intents and purpose it is her mother standing in front of her. Ellie just wants to run up to her and hug her and never let go. She needs her mother to tell her that she's not in over her head and this plan of hers is not farfetched.

Ellie needs her mother to tell her she's going to be alright.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Ellie promises, raising her hands in defense but doesn't move from her seat.

Felicity's grip tightens on the arrow head as she takes a step towards Ellie, her eyes narrowing and filled with suspicion. If Ellie thought her aunt's hard looks were too painful, it's nothing compared to complete blank look her mother gives her. The utter lack of recognition from the woman that usually knows Ellie inside out, is more than unnerving, it breaks Ellie's heart more than she could imagine.

"You say that, but yet you've yet to answer my question."

"Ellie." Ellie answers mentally slapping herself for giving Roy her real name the night before. "My name is Ellie and I need your help."

"My help? Not the…" Felicity gestures to the Arrow suit resting in the mannequin to her left. She then narrows her eyes, "who are you? How did you even find this place and more specifically me?"

"It doesn't matter." Ellie says dismissively, "I just need to access your computers for about an hour or so to do some searches and then I'll be out of your hair. You wouldn't even know I was here. In fact, let's pretend this never happened, you never saw me."

Ellie spins around to face the computers and her nose scrunches up as she goes over her words. That was not an example of her having things under control. It's probably the worst explanation in history, and she knows her mother would not buy that for a second, she just hopes that this younger version of her mother is more gullible.

"Alright, and what exactly are you looking for?" Felicity asks as she walks up to her desk, leaning against the metal table looking at Ellie expectantly.

Ellie has to bite back a groan because she has that tone, that 'you are talking bullshit Eleanor, but I'll play, for now'. It's the tactic that her mother has used for as long as Ellie can remember, on both her and her father. In fact Ellie remembers one specific time, when she was 7 and her dad took her to teach her archery with his bow and arrow set. They had recently renovated their basement as a workout area as well an office for her mother. Ellie wanted to learn how to use her dad's bow which he was able to cater to Ellie's size, the arrows however we bit too large for Ellie to handle and they learned that the hard way when one stray arrow embedded itself in her mother's brand new computer screen on the other side of room. Suffice to say, when her mother found out, her dad tried to get them out of trouble and it failed epically.

"I can't tell you." Ellie says truthfully pulling herself out of those memories, "I just need a secure network to search for some sensitive information."

Felicity scoffs as she folds her arms and looked at Ellie one eyebrow slightly raised, "Alright, Madonna. You clearly know your way around computers if you were able to break in here...then again I've been questioning the security of this place for months now...anyway. You also tried to get pass my passwords by using my backdoor method, something the boys don't even know about. So, I'm going to ask again who are you and what do you want?"

"Madonna?" Ellie asks stupidly

"You know the one name thing, like Cher or Beyonce." Felicity clarifies but then huffs in exasperation, "Don't distract me! Now I suggest you tell me what you want before my partners get here cause they are way more intimidating than I am. One of them in particular is very fond of pointy objects."

Felicity flips the arrow head in her hand to emphasize her point but winces when it nicks her palm, "Ouch, those things are much sharper than they look."

Ellie can't help but giggle at that, her mother can be scary when warranted but she can be so silly as well, without even trying. It's one of those things Ellie's dad said he loved the most about her. "I hope he's better with an arrow than you are."

Felicity narrows her eyes, "I never said it was a he."

"You mention 'boys' earlier and that doesn't look like something a girl would wear." Ellie says dryly pointing at the two mannequins.

"Did the League send you?" Felicity asks suspiciously, she then looks at Ellie's outfit, "Although the hoodie, kicks and baseball cap isn't exactly screaming league attire. How do you know me?"

"Felicity Smoak, VP of Palmer Tech." Ellie prattles off, but her mother barely even blinks at that.

"Yea, nope. This is not my day job, how do you know about this job. Do you work for the police or something?" Felicity asks this times her eyes are wide and she's moving away from Ellie.

"No, not police. I think if I was I'd just arrest you, no?" Ellie counters.

"For what? I don't think it's a crime to be in the basement of a club."

"Uh? Vigilante headquarters 101?" Ellie points out with a laugh, but her mother seems to be hard press on not admitting to anything and for the first time in her life Ellie learns exactly where she learn the art of deflection.

"I haven't admitted to helping any vigilantes."

"I'm not here to arrest you, Felicity!" Ellie says in exasperation, but freezes at the way her mother's name rolls off her tongue.

When Ellie was 12 she went through a stage where she wanted to change her name citing that hers was an old person name and she insisted on calling her parents by their given names till they agreed. Suffice to say her mother nixed that crazy notion the moment Ellie called her Felicity. Naturally, her father was amused by the whole thing so he let Ellie get away with it for the entire week her mother was away on a business trip, but Ellie got a ridiculously long lecture on the importance of respect.

She never did call her mother by her given name ever again, until now that is. Part of Ellie is almost waiting for the 'loud voice', but it never comes.

"I'm not letting you near my computers until you tell me who you are." Felicity says easily, "I'm inclined to believe that you are friend and not foe, but I suspect with all the terrible people we've come into contact this year alone, my judgment may be slightly skewed. You don't exactly scream killer assassin, no offense."

Ellie snorts in amusement, "Not looking for trouble just…"

"A mysterious something, that you can't say, but you need my computers you to look it up." Felicity remarks dryly, "How do I not know you're looking up something evil to pin it on me and my unsuspected IP address when the cyber cops come looking for you?"

"Like you don't have these computers' IP addresses hidden under a shit load of protective measures and deflections and if they even came near it, you would send them on a wild goose chase to Himalayas or something equally ridiculous and probably ironic too."

"Have we met before?" Felicity asks. She tilts her head to get a better look at Ellie's face under the Seattle Mariners baseball cap, "You're too young to have gone to MIT when I was there, but you clearly are familiar with my, uh, methods. I'm not some kind of legend or anything in MIT now, am I?"

Ellie quirks an eyebrow at her mother's disgruntled tone, "Why? Would you be proud of ruling the digital halls of MIT almost five years later?"

"A legend." Felicity mutters to herself, her voice full of awe as she contemplates the meaning.

Ellie is both amused but also grateful she was able to distract her mother so easily, she spins around to face the computers yet again, she starts to access it yet again, but no avail.

"You do that one more time and it's going to just lock up the entire system, including a search I'm currently working on. My partner isn't going to be happy if you stop that." Felicity points out lazily.

Ellie huffs and turns around to face her mother, only to see Felicity now sitting at the desk filled with arrowheads, not all bothered that Ellie has been trying and failing to get into her computers.

"Seriously?"

"You're trying to break into my system and yet you're upset that I won't help you?" Felicity scoffs as she folds her arms leaning back in her chair, "I'll make you a deal, you tell me who you are and how you even know about all of this and maybe i'll help you with it."

"You're so exhausting!" Ellie all but yells in exasperation a throwing herself back against the chair, but the second the words leave her lips Ellie's blood runs cold and she's taken back to the last time she uttered those words to her mother.

The very last thing she ever said to her mother.

0ooooooo0

 ** _Summer 2032_**

 _"Why are you being so difficult?" Fifteen year old Ellie all but yells at her mother, her sock clad feet stomping on the carpet of her room._

 _Felicity Queen only sighs as she leans against the door frame of Ellie's bedroom, her ridiculously calm demeanor only angering Ellie further. "Eleanor, you know the rules of the house."_

 _"It's a stupid rule." Ellie grumbles petulantly as she flops back onto her bed hands flailed out besides her._

 _"Please spare me the dramatics." Her mother says in a dry tone, "I grew up with Donna Smoak, I'm well versed with dramatics."_

 _"Mom!"_

 _"Ellie, there will be other concerts." Felicity promises, the soft downturn of her lips making Ellie pause._

 _Usually, when her mother doesn't allow her to do something, she always feels strongly about it and does not regret it, in fact she would almost always say Ellie would understand later. More often than not, much Ellie's annoyance her mother is right, but tonight she just seems to be crestfallen as she refuses to let Ellie go to a concert with her friends. A concert Ellie and Sara have been planning for weeks._

 _"What if I can get all my assignments finished before 6, then can I go?" Ellie bargains, knowing the likelihood of her even finishing both her essays and calculus homework in the next three hours would be a miracle in itself. It's times like this Ellie wishes she had super speed like her Uncle Barry, or at least wasn't overly ambitious like her mother and decided that taking summer classes was a good idea_

 _"Barry was able to transfer some of his super speed to you and didn't tell me?" Her mother teases._

 _Sometimes, Ellie hates how alike she and her mother are._

 _"I should just go and live with Grandma in Florida." Ellie grumbles, "She would have let me go."_

 _"Yea, she'd probably take you and then speak to Jason Mitchell for you."_

 _Ellie spins around almost immediately at her mother's words and points a finger at her mother in accusation, "Did you hack my phone? How do you know Jason? Does Dad know? Did you do a background check on him?"_

 _"Hey, wow! Nothing like that, I just heard you and Sara mention the name before."_

 _Ellie opens her mouth about to go into the sordid details of her one sided love affair with Jason Mitchell, a senior at her school and also in Sara's English class, but then she remembers that she is angry at her mother and just growls in annoyance._

 _"Yea the growling won't work with me. I married the king of growly faces, I'm immune by now Oh! October will be 20 years since I met your father, we should probably celebrate or something..."_

 _Her mother gets that soft, lovestruck look that Ellie is all too familiar with and Ellie can't help but roll her eyes, but decides to try and use your mother's distraction to her advantage. "So, can I go to the concert?"_

 _"What?" her mother asks slightly dazed clearly lost in her memories but then straightens when Ellie's question registers with her, "Eleanor."_

 _"I don't understand!" Ellie whines, "I don't even have anything due tomorrow. Why can't I go? Everyone is going, I'll be going with Sara and her friends."_

 _"Ellie, can we please not go through this once again." Her mother all but begs, which is odd on its own._

 _Ellie knows things at the office have been a little crazy, but there is something else and Ellie hates mysteries._

 _"Why won't you let me go? I know its just cause I didn't finish my homework." Ellie accuses, but her question seems to be the last straw for her mother._

 _"It's nothing. You just finish those essays I know you've been procrastinating on."_

 _"Mom, what aren't you telling me?" Ellie rises off her bed and walks towards her mother._

 _"What I'm telling you is that your homework won't write itself. Get to it. No more questions."_

 _"Mom!"_

 _"Ellie. Homework. Now."_

 _Her mother's tone leaves no room for argument but Ellie only scowls in annoyance. She hates when her parents do this, she's fifteen years old, she's not a child anymore, but yet they insist on treating her as such._

 _"You're so exhausting!"_

 _"I'm sorry, Ellie." Her mother whispers, closing the door on her way out._

 _Ellie sits there all for a minute until she decides she won't take that as an answer and decides to tackle her father instead, after all he's the softer one of the two. A well placed smile and a few 'daddy's' and Ellie's pretty sure she can get her way, add in to the fact that she thinks something is bothering her mother, Ellie knows she'll get to the bottom of this easily._

 _She slowly makes her way to her parents bedroom in the back of the house, but pauses when she hears her mother's distressed voice._

 _"I just don't like lying to her."_

 _"Felicity, we agreed it's best we keep Ellie in the dark about this until necessary."_

 _"I know, but do you remember years ago when you kept your secrets from Thea and then Slade…"_

 _"Hun, nothing like that is going to happen to her, not if we keep an eye on her."_

 _"We can't have Roy following her around like this. This can't be the reason his cover gets blown, not after all these years."_

 _"Felicity, no one is after Ellie, we are just being cautious. This thing that is after us is unlike anything we've dealt with and they know us, our history. We can't take the chance that…"_

 _"Oliver, you do not need to lecture me on the safety of our daughter! I know the risks!" Felicity growls angrily, "I just….she's fourteen years old….she should not be involved in this life just because we chose it all those years ago. I want her to have her childhood, to cling to that innocence till...it's not fair."_

 _"I know."_

 _Ellie's heart beats rapidly in her chest as she listens to the exchange, the way her mother's voice cracks. Part of her what's to barge in their room, demand they tell her everything, demand that they stop treating her like a child, but the other part of just wants to curl up in her mother's lap and make her promise that everything will be okay. Being the only child of not just the Green Arrow but the mayor of Star City has put Ellie under unwanted scrutiny and danger, Ellie knows this but she doesn't think she's ever heard the level of fear that either of her parents voices. Nothing scares her father or her mother for that mother._

 _Ellie takes a deep breath, and slowly walks away from the door, promising herself that she'll apologize to her mother in the morning, and trust that her parents are doing what's best for her._

 _The next day Felicity goes missing and Ellie never got to apologize to her mother._


	4. Chapter 4

" Felicity!"

" Frack." Ellie hisses under her breath and she turns to her mother looking at her in annoyance, "I thought you were just bluffing about calling in the calvary!"

"Why would I? Strange person breaks into supposedly secret lair? That warrants calling in the big guns, literally . I still don't even know who you are!"

"I told you!" Ellie says in equal exasperation, she's about continue but falters when she sees her father make his way to her mother.

He stops a few feet away from her mother his eyes narrowing as he takes her in. His entire focus is on her as his eyes sweep over Felicity clearly searching for any distress or injuries. Ellie is so focused on her parents seeing them standing before her, she does not even notice her uncle John until a throat clears and she's pulled back to reality.

"Who are you?" Her uncle poses the question not hostile or suspicious like her mother's, but more calculating and Ellie knows almost immediately that he will be one to figure out her secret first. She makes a mental note to keep her face hidden behind her baseball cap as much as she can.

"He asked you a question." Her father growls taking a step towards Ellie and this time Ellie visibly flinches, caught by surprise.

All her life she has never been on the receiving end of her father's anger, not like this. She stumbles back, hitting into the desk, unsure what to do,this ….This is why her Uncle Barry told her to lay low.

She was not prepared for this.

She knows her father would never hurt her, but the problem is this man is not her father, at least not yet and it clear he has no qualms about hurting her if it meant protecting her mother. The entire thing does not sit well with Ellie at all

"Oliver!" Her mother is sharp and full of warning, a tone Ellie is all too familiar with and for some reason it comforts her and eases Ellie racing heart. "Ellie is not a threat."

"Felicity, you're the one that sent the distress signal. You of all people know looks can be deceiving."

"I sent it before I spoke to her and after speaking to her she is no longer a threat, just very stubborn that's something I'm use to after all stubborn people are not something we're running short of around here."

Ellie rolls her eyes at the comment, not even upset at the jab. Twenty years in the past and yet they are still doing the same thing when Ellie was a kid, they talk about her like she wasn't even there and she knows from experience intervening while they are in the middle of their little spat never ends well for her .

Ellie just huffs and tunes them out as she plops back onto her mother's chair and grabs the nearest keyboard hoping to crack through her mother's protection walls yet again. She can feel eyes on her, and since both of her parents are still yelling at each - like her mother would say "we're not arguing Ellie, we're simply having a heated discussion'- she knows her Uncle John is looking at her.

"Ellie! I told you not to touch that!" Her mother snaps and Ellie automatically raises her hands up in defense but when she looks across at her her mother is frowning in confusion.

That warning is something Ellie has heard all her life, growing up she was always in inquisitive child and her mother would always bemoan and blame herself for Ellie's curious behavior even from small.

"Sorry, but by my calculation if you tried one more time the entire system would go into lockdown…." Felicity trails off her jaw dropping when her screens are brought to life and her current search is running on one screen while the other is set up for whatever search Ellie wants to conduct.

Ellie whoops in triumphant her fist raising in the air automatically, "booyah! I knew that would work! Alright, it's you and me Mr. Bing."

"No one uses Bing anymore," Felicity informs her voice still full of awe as she takes a step towards Ellie, "how did you breech my system. It's a five step process. No one can do it, I only invented it last year...wait no last summer ."

Ellie heart races at the implications, she should have figured out some of the things her mother taught her were things that her mother herself invented. Ellie bites her lip and spins tilts her chair towards her confused mother, "lucky guess?"

"Have you been stalking , Felicity?"

Her father's voice is low and calm but Ellie's known him long enough to recognize the threat. Ellie rolls her eyes, her reaction not amusing Oliver in the slightest and he stalks towards her, his knees almost touching the chair and glowering down at her. Ellie in turn only tilts her head back to look him in the eye her own blue eyes narrowing back at him, "Are you going to stop growling like a bear and back off so I can explain?"

Uncle John's eyebrows skyrocket at her comment, while her mother can't whole back her snort. Her father is less than amused, but when she does not waver her gaze from him, he finally backs off. It's a trick she learned from her mother. Her mother no matter if she is in her tallest heels or barefoot would look her father right in the eye until he caved and he always caved.

Ellie spins the chair around with ease and turns to face three of them, "You're not going to believe me."

"What do you want with Felicity and why are you following her around?" Oliver fires almost immediately.

"Oliver, I just told you she needed something on my computers. Stop for one minute and let her talk." Her mother snaps.

It's harsher than Ellie has ever remembered her mother being with her father and for the first time Ellie stops to really look at her parents. They are standing on opposite sides of the small area, her father has his arms folded looking anything but pleased. Ellie is well aware of how grumpy her father use to be, her mother always teased him about their first few years of meeting. But it's her mother who has her body turned away from her father and her arms folded and looking so closed off towards her father that has her concerned.

Ellie doesn't know her parents full story, she just knows that they got together the summer of 2015, which by her calculations is only about four months away. Ellie assumed they would be like any other couple dancing around the issue, she did not expect so much hostility especially from her mother.

Her uncle Barry did not warn her about this and once again she's reminded why she needs to keep her identity a secret.

"I'm not from this time." Ellie confesses, making sure to say it slowly and looking around each person for their reaction.

"You mean Starling?" Her uncle John is the first to speak his face full of confusion. Ellie knows almost immediately that this will be a lot for him to swallow.

" Time , as in not 2015?" Her mother asks incredulously with wide eyes as she takes a step closer to Ellie and fixes her glasses almost as thoughthat will make her see Ellie more clearly, or clarify who Ellie is.

"Don't be ridiculous." Diggle says with a slight scoff, but when Felicity looks at him pointedly he whips around to look at Ellie, his brown eyes are wide, "Seriously?"

Her mother snaps her fingers, once then twice clearly trying to catch some stray thought, "Barry….Barry said he went back in time recently….did Barry send you?"

"Are we really talking about time travel here? Barry can jump through time too? Or does he have his own special tardis?"

"John! You're a Dr. Who fan?" Her mother looks at her uncle in delight, Ellie's origin temporarily forgotten, "How did I not know this? We could have had Dr. Who marathon sessions last summer! So much wasted time I…."

"Felicity." Her father's voice is firm but Ellie can see the smile tugging at his lips as he looks at her mother.

That 's the look Ellie remembers.

"Oliver, you don't seem surprised by this." Diggle says his eyes narrowing in suspicion, "You can't tell me this is something else you've seen on that island, or in Hong Kong."

"I've seen things. Things that can't be explained, nothing like this but it's not out of the realm of possibility."

Her father's response causes Ellie to laugh despite her better judgement, which earns mostly surprised looks and not too pleased look from her father, "Thanks for that Obi Wan."

This time it's her mother who breaks out into laughter, "I like her! Can we keep her?"

With that one question her father's previous annoyance dissipates once again and he's shaking his head a small smile on his lips. "She's not a puppy, Felicity."

" She is also standing right here." Ellie responds dryly. "To answer your question, no Barry did not bring me here. I came with the help of a device, a device I cannot show you or explain how it works. Just know it did its job and here I am."

"Oh! How far from the future are you? What are computers like there? You seem pretty efficient with these, so it can't be that far. Is that how you know how to get pass my systems? Did I write a book? I always wanted to write my own book, the technology books today are severely lacking."

"Felicity." Her father calls out sharply, his eyes now trained on Ellie as he speaks. "Do not answer any of her questions. She can't tell us anything about the future. It could have dire consequences, why are you even telling us that you're from the future in the first place?"

"Well that's no fun." Felicity mutters to herself looking thoroughly disappointed.

Despite Ellie being properly chastised at her father's tone she squares her shoulders and never looks away from his angry gaze, "Because you people were too nosy and weren't going to help me unless I gave you a proper explanation."

"And you thought time travel was the best route?" Her uncle John asks incredulously, "Time travel? Really?"

"If you're not suppose say anything in fear of changing well everything, why are you in the past in the first place? I hardly think this is a joy ride to the past to see old relatives or old technology...although the latter I'd certainly go back in time for…"

"Yea these things tend to move slower than my grandma." Ellie quips at her mother. To be fair her Grandma Donna is hardly slow but home computers move as fast as her uncle Barry use to be.

"Really? Have you moved beyond terabyte speeds? Are desktops completely obsolete now? I feel like those things will be non existence within five years." Felicity says thoughtfully, "Speaking off how far from the future are you? Can't I get like a little hint. Did you bring any of your tech? You had to have used something to get passed the locks without setting off the alarms."

Felicity looks at Ellie with eager, wide eyes, reminding Ellie so much of her mother Ellie hearts clenches and she has to look away to gather herself. She can't afford to breakdown now, with so many eyes on her.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked. But if you want to slip me a piece of paper with…"

" Felicity ." Oliver calls out in exasperation, he then turns to Ellie and despite his tone Ellie knows he's not angry, "What are you looking for? Maybe we have heard of it, or at least Felicity can help you locate it quicker."

"It's hard to explain, and I'm not really sure of the whole story behind it...my….a friend was the one that told me about it. It no longer exists in my world." Ellie says seriously, her voice cracking with her explanation and just like that a flip has been switched and all humour drains out of her mother and she's back into mission mode. "It's called воскрешение камень."

Oliver falters at her words his eyes narrowing and his suspicion increasing tenfold which does not sit well with Ellie not because of his suspicion but there is a sinking feeling in her gut that she is way in over her head when it comes to retrieving this stone and bringing it to Cisco.

" How do you know about that ?" Oliver accuses in Russian, the rapid fire and hostility in his words catches Ellie by surprise." What game are you playing? воскрешение камень Doesn't exist. who are you? Who sent you?"

" It does and I've seen the consequences of it being placed in the wrong hands." Ellie snaps back in angry Russian, surprising everyone once again.

" Bullshit. That is an old folk tale. WHO SENT YOU?"

"OKAY! Can the two of you stop the second language nonsense and speak in English for those of us who are monolingual here?" Felicity snaps cutting them off.

"I don't know what the Bratva told you Kapatan . But the воскрешение камень is very real and has been used in my time with terribleconsequences. I've seen first hand what those consequences are." Ellie growls angrily. "I came back here for a reason and you aren't going to stop me. So I suggest you either help me or step back and I'll find it on my own."

"Okay, let's calm down you two." Felicity steps between the two her hand resting on Oliver's chest and then looks back at Ellie who is now huffing in anger, her arms folded as she glares at Oliver.

Their stance is the exact same and once Ellie notices or more specifically she noticed her uncle John looking at her pointedly she quickly unfolds her arms and places a hand on her hip and tugs the ends of her ponytail a nervous habit of hers. She looks across at her silent parents and freezes when she sees her mother standing the exact same way she is. One hand on her hip the other still on her father's chest but her head is tilted to side as she looks at Oliver sternly.

Ellie knows the moment her uncle has figured her out when his eyes bug out and he looks from the pair and then back to Ellie. His head moves like he's watching an intense tennis match. Ellie nose wrinkles as she looks at him pleadingly her head shaking from left to right.

"Well fuck ." He whistles softly utterly flabbergasted.

"What?" Felicity asks in alarm spinning around to face him tearing her gaze away from Oliver who is has a pinched look.

"Usually, when the Bratva is involved it's never a good thing." Diggle says slowly.

He looks at Ellie and his expression softens just a bit and for the first time since arriving back her Ellie feels welcomed. Her uncle John had been like a second father to her for years before things turned for the worst, before her uncle Barry took her in.

"How do you know that I'm a Kapatan?" Oliver asks suspiciously.

" Dude." Ellie all but groans in frustration, "I'm from the future. Can we not do this 20 questions thing ever single time I divulge something? It's getting taxing and I'd like to get out of here before I'm born."

"When is that exactly?" Felicity asks curiously no doubt fishing for answers on how far from the future Ellie truly is.

Uncle John only snorts at the question but shakes his head when her mother glares at him, "What? Can't blame a girl for trying. She's worse than Oliver with the secret keeping."

"воскрешение камень is Russian for Resurrection Stone. According to old Russian folklore there is a stone that can bring back anyone from the dead no matter how long they have passed. It's more a children's tale that served to get them into bed or threaten to bring back Stuhac, a beast that had been known to eat children's limbs."

Ellie shudders in memory of that particular story. She's only heard it once and she still shivers at the thought.

"Oh that's ridiculously stupid thing to tell children. Personally, I think bargaining with kids about being good or Santa won't get here is bad enough but to scare them to bed? Really! That's appalling. What happen to good old Ariel teaching kids to never give up on their dreams?"

"Was that what Ariel was teaching? Here I thought it was telling young girls that defying your father could get you what you want if you're determined enough." Ellie quips unable to hide her grin at the memories of her parents heated debates about appropriate bedtimes stories

"Your poor father. You must of been such a handful." Her uncle John laughs in delight but sobers as soon as her parent look at him with confusion. Ellie can still see the smile tugging at the edge of his lips and although she knows she is for a serious interrogation from him, it's nice to know how delighted he is at the information.

"The stone is very real and very dangerous I need to find it before it gets in the wrong hands and give it to Cisco Ramon. The hope is, if he has it then the monster from my time would not get his hands on it." Ellie says with a growl thinking about all the people who lost their lives, all the people she's lost because of that man's selfishness.

"No if the legends are true and if I'm to go by what you're saying, destroying the stone is the only option." Oliver says determinedly, "No one should possess that kind of power."

"And you know how to destroy it?" Ellie asks him expectantly waiting for his nod of confirmation.

Oliver bites his lip and then looks from Felicity to Diggle then back at Ellie, "I might know."

"Great!" Ellie claps her hands, "let's find this sucker so I can take a one way trip back home."

"Ellie." Her father's solemn tone makes her smile falter and her shoulders drop she knows that tone. The last time she heard that tone was five years ago when he told her he was heading out on his suicide mission to search for her mother.

She never saw her father again.

"воскрешение камень is not something that you can do a quick google search on. I have some contacts in the Bratva that may help me, but the problem is once people are aware of the search it's very likely others will start searching as well. This is not an easy task, we have to pull some resources and…."

"Oh no. no. No. There is no we in this." Ellie says firmly at her father's scowl she knows he's about to protest, but she raises her hand to stop him. "Look all I need is a location, I'll take it from there. I refuse to jeopardize my. .. I mean the future by putting any of you in harm's way. If you can give me a location I can be on your way and out of your hair."

"Ellie." her uncle John calls out slightly confused but she can tell he's tapering his concern clearly not agreeing with plan.

"Nope. I'm not even going to argue with you on this. I can always just search for it on my own now that I know a where or at least a who to go by. This is my battle, not yours."

With that said she spins around to grab her backpack that's still lying on the table, knowing she needs to consult her notes both written and digital on what she already has on the stone to see if she can figure out a proper location. The other's are talking in hush whispers behind her, but she hears her mother's remark clear as day and she can't help but smirk.

"Well, will wonders never cease, I do believe we've found someone more stubborn than you, Oliver."

* * *

 **Christmas Eve 2022**

 _Five year old Ellie Queen slips outs of her bedroom in the dead of the night, little blond pigtails whipping against her cheek as she tiptoes quietly out of her room. She presses her back against the wall and listens closely. She can hear her mommy's fingers clicking rapidly on a keyboard coming from her parents room but, at the lack of light Ellie knows that her mother is just about ready to go to bed. With that in mind she slowly inches past her parent's bedroom, her back still against the wall and once she's past the room she breathes a sigh of relief._

 _She holds onto the banister of the stairs and quickly makes her way down, mindful of her long reindeer pjs that keep catching on her toes, her daddy always warns her to take her time when walking down the stairs, but she's too anxious to get to the living room._

 _Once she hits the landing Ellie silently squeals and pumps her fits in the air. Part one of her mission is complete._

 _She looks around the open area of their house, listens closely just in case her daddy is around but grins when all she is hears is silence. She then tiptoes along the corridor and makes her way to the living room, or more specifically the place where their Christmas tree is currently lit brightly, twinkling in the otherwise dark room._

 _She looks across at the menorah that holds all of its candles, the wax melting slightly, but no fire is burning. She shivers slightly, the fireplace is also out, but she had planned for this earlier and quickly skips over to her toy box and pulls out her large Elsa quilt that she and placed in there earlier in the day._

 _Once she has her blanket and her Olaf stuffed animal she drags both behind her making her way around the large living room. She checks on the cookies and milk left for Santa, tempted to take one of the cookies, but then remembers that Santa needs those cookies to keep up his energy so she leaves them, but not before looking at it forlornly._

 _She then moves over the to Hanukkah display and presses the button on her own little electric menorah and grins when the lights dance over the ceiling, mixing with the Christmas lights from the tree._

 _With that done she then makes her way back to the couch and tosses the blanket and Olaf onto the couch, propping Olaf against arm of the couch so that he can face her, "Do you think Santa is gonna come down this chimney, or the one in our dining room?"_

 _She whispers to her small friend and nods seriously in return, "Yea, Mommy says the other one is too small for Santa, that's why we puts the Christmas tree in heres. We're gonna get to see Santa, Olaf!"_

 _Ellie squeals with delight, but then gasps loudly, "Oh I almost forgots 'bout that. Thanks Olaf!"_

 _She stands on the couch and with one large leap she jumps from the couch to the single arm chair. She looks back at Olaf and places a finger against her lips, "Shh we don'ts tell Mommy I was jumpins on hers chair."_

 _With that said she leans over the back of the chair, where a small table rests and she tugs open the draw, while hanging upside down and pulls out her Daddy's phone that she hid there as well. With a triumphant grin she shuts the draw quietly and quickly makes her way back to Olaf._

 _Now with everything she needs, she bundles up under her blankets, Olaf in her lap as she holds out the phone for the stuffed animal to see the screen, "Daddy doesn't even know I has his phones."_

 _She giggles at her little secret and presses the bottom of the screen to start up her father's phone. When the password request comes up, she places her finger on the little button and whoops in excitement when it registers her finger. With that out of the way she quickly finds the camera up and places it on her knees facing the chimney._

 _"I'll show Sara that Santa Claus is real ." She says determinedly, little fingers clasping the phone as she waits for Jolly old St. Nick to arrive._

 _Two hours later when Oliver and Felicity come down stairs to place Ellie's gifs that's exactly how they find her phone still clutched in her hand as she snores softly._

 _Felicity is so tickled she pulls out her phone almost immediately and takes a picture, "I told you that she would do this, she's been sneaking things in here all day. When I asked her what she was doing, she told me top secret mission for the Green Arrow, but Daddy can't tell me anything."_

 _Oliver laughs, "I told you she was going to try and stay up to see Santa. Kid planned it all out, even brought company."_

 _"She had snacks too, but I think she forgot about the oreos in the control box." Felicity says with a laugh moving to the little box by the television that holds all their remote controls and sure enough there are two packs of oreos, a jar of marshmallow fluff and a juice box._

 _"Can't say she wasn't prepared." Oliver laughs again as he slips some of Ellie's gifts into her christmas stockings._

 _"She's as stubborn as you are, the moment Sara Diggle told her that Santa did not exist I knew this was going to happen."_

 _"We've got a little Green Arrow in training." Oliver says proudly watching as Ellie slumbers on the couch._

 _"Or Overload." Felicity counters with a smile, referring to herself._

 _Oliver echoes her in agreement and then tugs her to his arms once he's finished placing all the gifts, "So are we leaving her there or taking her back to her room?"_

 _"Let's leave her, oooh and a little note too." Felicity says eagerly as she drinks almost all of the milk for Santa. She grabs a nearby pen and paper and scribbles a little note to their daughter, then gently places it on Ellie's lap._

 _"She's going to be so disappointed when she wakes up," Oliver says with a frown as he nibbles on one of the cookies._

 _"Don't worry next year she'll try it again. Remember last year? She fell asleep on the stairs before she could get down here." Felicity says with a laugh, "C'mon Mr. Queen let's go celebrate our own Christmas traditions."_

 _The next morning when Ellie woke up she was practically buzzing with energy when she reads the short note she got from Santa._

 **Dear Eleanor,**

 **Thank you for the cookies and the milk, oreos are my favourite as well. I'm sorry you fell asleep while waiting for me, maybe next year we'll get to finally meet each other.**

 **Love Santa Claus.**

 _After Felicity read out the note for Ellie, she insisted on calling Sara Diggle right that minute and told her this was even better than a picture, no one has a note from Santa_.


	5. Chapter 5

"I think it's safe to say you aren't going to find anything online, Ellie." Uncle John calls out from behind her.

It's been almost three hours since her parents left and Ellie was hoping she would find the information she needed and then disappear to fix things on her own. But given the fact that her father said this stone is from years maybe even centuries ago long before computers were even a thought and Ellie thinks the lack of digital evidence will be her downfall.

"Seriously? She drops this huge ass story on us and you're just going with it, no questions ask?" Roy asks in disbelief.

He's been quiet for the most part trying to process everything Ellie has told him. She decided the truth was better than a halfass tale, that she'd have to keep track of, she couldn't even keep her name a secret after all.

"Not that I don't believe you." Roy continues. He makes his way behind Felicity's computer screens and looks down at Ellie with curious eyes. "Unless Blondie has been juggling a _third_ job that involves cloning I can't see anything else."

"What is it with you two and cloning? It's not even possible in this time." Ellie says with a roll of her eyes ignoring Roy's flabbergasted expression. "Forget I said that. You know I could just be a relative. Long lost sister or something."

"That Felicity doesn't know about?" Diggle counters with a grin.

"That's the concept of long lost." Ellie retorts with her own smile, "who knows what my asshat of a grandfather has been up to."

Both Roy and Diggle's widen in surprise at her words and Ellie remembers that her mother's father is practically a ghost to all of them. Ellie herself only knows he's a terrible person and all her information has been second hand from her Uncle Roy. After all Ellie grew up with the best grandfather a girl could ask for she didn't need or care to know about the man that left her Mom and her Grandma.

"I'm pretty sure you're 100% Smoak." Roy says with a laugh. "You're really telling me they haven't figured it out yet?"

"Nope." Ellie replies.

"It's Oliver and Felicity." Diggle tells the young man his tone full of knowing exasperation. "You've seen them, Oliver is a bit slow when it comes to these things."

"Yes and I'd like that relationship to progress on its ridiculously slow pace without any future interventions. Thank you very much."

"How much longer could it be possibly take?" Roy asks in exasperation, "it's painful to watch them interact."

"I can't tell you that."

"Why?" Roy asks with a grunt and it amuses Ellie how much he's invested in her parents relationship. It reminds her of her Grandma Donna and those tv shows she loves to watch and the relationships she roots for and always tries to get Ellie to get sucked in. "Isn't the end goal to get them together anyway? Unless you're afraid the condom breaks and you end up aging 5 years."

"Can you _not?"_ Ellie gags at the thought earning smirks form both men, "I just don't want to end up with an older sibling who coincides with certain _things_ in summer of 2016."

"2016? That's next year!" Roy says with wide eyes, "those two haven't even bumped uglies yet."

"It only takes that one time." Her uncle John counters with a grin.

"Uncle _Roy. Uncle John!"_ Ellie bemoans, this conversation getting more disturbing by the minute.

"Uncle Roy?" Roy blanches taking a step back almost as Ellie has cursed him. "You...me...I….Thea?"

"I can't answer that." Ellie says with a wide grin lovely how uncomfortable he's getting. There is no sense her telling him the fate that awaits him in a few short months.

Roy narrows his eyes at her but relents knowing he can't ask anymore questions after Ellie explained hours ago how detrimental it is for her to keep her secret. He then turned to Diggle smirking slightly, "Oliver certainly didn't waste any time."

Her uncle John laughs in agreement as Ellie holds back a groan.

"Oliver doesn't waste time doing what?" A new voice pipes up startling the small group.

Felicity is making her way towards her computers now dressed in jeans and a sweater her winter coat hung over her arm. Ellie looks wide eyed at her uncles but Diggle steps in smoothly, "Oliver won't waste time with this, we were just catching Roy up and he wanted to know what to you two were up to."

"Hm." Her voice is laden with suspicion but she turns to Roy and smile, "so you met our time traveler? Isn't it exciting?"

Roy rolls his eyes, "you are such a nerd, Blondie."

"Says the guy who came over every night last summer to watch Dr. Who with me and Harry Potter _and.."_

"Hey! We said we'd never talk about that!" Roy protests his cheeks pinking up in embarrassment.

Ellie's mother only laughs in response as she makes a beeline for her computers. She seems to notice Ellie for the first time and stops in her steps. She tilts her head to the side and peers down at Ellie but then shakes her head. "Any luck?"

"Nope this thing predates technology." Ellie says with a shudder.

"Oh the horror." Felicity responds voicing Ellie's thoughts.

Roy snorts at their matching expression but then coughs to cover up his amusement at Felicity's look at them suspiciously but Ellie only shakes her head. "Ignore him. How are we supposed to find out more about this stone thing? Should I go to a library and start searching?"

"You should wait for Oliver and hear what he knows." Diggle says with a pointed look. Ellie is about to protest but Diggle holds up his hand stopping her, "okay let's say we find this stone and it's in Russia how are you going to get there? I'm pretty sure your passport is not valid in this time."

Ellie scowls in annoyance at his valid point. She folds her arms but winces in pain when she brushes the bandage on her arm.

"Did you change that thing since I put it on?" Roy asks incredulously already moving to the medi-bay where they have all their medical supplies, "I told you to get it cleaned out at least twice a day."

He beckons Ellie to the table but Felicity cuts Ellie off her eyes narrowing in suspicion, "wait you two know each other? How do you know each other?"

"We had a run in my first day here." Ellie admits as she shrugs off her hoodie to reveal the large bandage on her for arms which is caked with dried blood, "Some assholes seemed to think it was okay to take my stuff. They thought wrong."

"She kicked their asses." Roy says proudly, making Ellie roll her eyes, "It totally makes sense now."

"What make sense?" Felicity asks, while Diggle is shaking his head behind the blonde and Roy has mind to look sheepish.

"You know time travelers should be able to kick some ass." Roy offers pathetically.

"That makes no sense, you…."

But whatever Felicity was going to say gets cuts off when Oliver comes running down the stairs, "We have a problem."

"Oh god. Is this we problem a _me_ problem as in, did I offset something catastrophic from what I told you or is a _you_ problem with your everyday business?" Ellie asks in horror, not even flinching when Roy dabs her arm a little too roughly at Oliver's entrance.

Oliver looks at her curiously almost as though he forgot she was there, "The League took Merlyn."

Ellie's blood runs cold at the name her Uncle John picking up almost immediately, just as her mother pipes up, "well that solves one problem for today."

"I don't get it why would the league be after Merlyn?" Roy asks in confusion.

"Thea." Oliver explains tiredly, "she told them everything...with you know who and…"

"He made Thea kill Sara Lance, then told Ra's that you killed her. Ra's challenged you to a duel you went _splat_ but were saved from some friends of yours from Japan or something and then you came back. I know that story," Ellie remarks dryly.

"It's Hong Kong actually." Felicity corrects but raises her hands in defense when Oliver sends her and incredulously, "She's from the _future_ Oliver I'm pretty sure she knows how everything turns out. Speaking off, think you can give us a little hint as to whether or not Oliver's next asinine plan is a go or a no?"

"Hey! I didn't say…"

"So you came down here just to _gossip_ with us then?" Felicity counters when she only gets silence in return she huffs, "that's what I thought."

"We have to get him back." Oliver says now reluctant after Felicity's little remark.

Immediately there is an uproar as the team begins to argue. Ellie listens for all of five minutes before she is whistling to gain their attention, "this is all very fascinating, but were you able to get any information for me? I'm running on a clock here."

"Are you? Cause you're about what 20? So I think you have just about 21 years of time?" Roy asks smartly.

Ellie scowls at him, "I was not _born_ in 2016. Can you please stop giving away all my secrets? Look the point is I have things to do, a stone to find and destroy. I'd like to get back to my own time."

"But would you have a time to go back to?" Roy's voice is soft this time and full of uncertainty, "I mean if you're meant to come back here and stop something so far in the past wouldn't that completely alter your time?"

"Yes, but…" Ellie falters, she never really thought about the after. She's been so focused on completing her mission she didn't think her task the aftermath never occurred to her, and now that is had she wishes Roy never brought it up, "it doesn't matter. I have something to do and that's why I am here."

"So damn the consequences to yourself then?" Uncle John is frowning now and not at all pleased with this turn of events.

"Uh, idiocy runs in the family." Roy remarks dryly. He casts a glance at Oliver but then quickly looks away. No one noticing the way Felicity has been watching the exchange with wide calculated eyes, "Which is ironic given who…"

"Alright!" Ellie says loudly as she jumps off the medical table, her hoodie clasped in her hand tightly, "there will be no more talk about me or my history...past, present or future. I just need to find this stupid stone and just get rid of it."

"Getting rid of it won't be that easy." Oliver chimes in, "you'll need a special blade."

"Which let me guess, is not with said stone cause why make my life easy?" Ellie remarks sarcastically. She growls angrily resisting the urge to pick something up and throw it. "Leave Malcolm Merlyn to rot in Nanda Parbat for the time being. Ra's Al Ghul won't kill him right away. Help me find this stupid thing and then you can go back to the insane notion that man deserves saving."

She knows she's said too much by the way the entire room is silent, at her outburst. Her uncle John surprisingly is the first to speak and Ellie almost jumps in surprise, "Malcolm Merlyn, he's the one you're trying to stop, isn't it? He's the one responsible for..for all your losses?"

Ellie bites her lip refusing to look at her parents, "he tried to defy natural order of life and other people suffered the consequences like always."

"Who did you lose?" Felicity voice is tentative as she speaks and she placed a hand on Ellie's other shoulder.

Ellie gets a strong wiff of her mother's familiar vanilla scented cream and Ellie's eyes begin to fill with tears but she furiously wipes her face in her hoodie, "I can't say."

She can't look at her mother in the eye, but despite her avoidance Felicity still continues to rub Ellie's back soothingly. Soft circles up and down her spine, exactly like when Ellie was a kid, which terrifies Ellie to say the least.

The room is silent, but Ellie knows the men have turned their backs to give her some privacy, right now only her mother is comforting her. Growing up Ellie has always been a curious child and as an adult she is no different and she can't help but look across at her mother. She knows she shouldn't, she knows her broken expression will give everything away, her mother has always been able to read her like a book.

The moment their eyes meet she realizes her mother knows everything, or at least knows who Ellie is. Her mother's eyes are warm and full of so much love, it's all consuming and Ellie's carefully controlled emotions comes crashing down and she bursts into tears.

Ellie buries her face in the crook of her mother's neck her fingers clutching the soft material of her mother sweater he voice muffled as she speaks. There is so much she wants to say to her mother, but she knows she can't because for all intents and purpose this woman is _not_ her mother, no matter how much she sounds like her, looks like her or acts like her and Ellie is have a hard time wrapping her mind around that.

"I don't...how?" Ellie stutters out softly.

She knows the men are not longer watching them instead moved off to another end of the lair but the room is still very small. She really misses the bunker, the bunker had so many nooks and crannies for privacy, at the time Ellie and Sara would just use it to play hide and seek. Ellie shakes her head free of those thoughts she can't be dwelling on the past, the irony of her that statement is not lost to her either.

"I figured it out last night...well you being Oliver's...Oliver is your father right?" She asks her voice soft and slightly uncertain.

Ellie nods her head and pulls back to look her mother both of them wearing matching red rimmed eyes. Oliver being her father is one thing, but Ellie knows that her mother knows she's _her_ daughter and far as Ellie can tell her parents are nowhere close to that, "But you…"

Felicity laughs uncomfortably and wipes her eyes, "Yea, I figured you would never come back here to us to ask for help unless one of us were family. A few minutes with you and I knew you were Oliver's right away, you were too similar all the mannerisms, the hero complex, the pig headed, stubborn.."

"Felicity." Ellie calls out. She decides in that moment that she can't call her 'Mom' she's barely keeping her sanity as it is and the lines are so blurred they are more like smudges in the sand, she can't do that.

"Sorry."

Felicity tilts her head to the side and looks at Ellie thoughtfully, her voice filled with awe and just a bit of confusion, "You look so much like me."

Ellie is unsure if it's a question or a statement but her mother's confused expression has her laughing, "Who else would I look like?"

The question seems to give her mother pause though, like full ramifications of who Ellie is has finally hit her. Ellie can see that she's about to pass out and she quickly grabs a nearby chair rolling it over to her mother.

"Felicity! What's wrong?"

Her father appears out of nowhere, hovering anxiously over her mother, his hand resting on her shoulder as he takes her in. The fact that her doesn't even spares Ellie a glance means he probably did not hear their conversation, but instead was just lurking in the shadows. It might sound creepy to anyone else, but Ellie remember her father's overprotective nature well. Her first day of kindergarten he spent the majority of his time up in a _tree_ watching Ellie and her class as they played outside. Ellie just remembers seeing him there and going to talk to him, until her teacher saw him and called the cops not realizing Oliver was not a peeping tom but just ridiculous over protective parent.

Her mother used her loud voice that day.

"Nothing, probably stood up too quickly." Felicity reassures, she takes one look at Oliver and then turns Ellie, then back to Oliver again an unreadable expression on her face and Ellie is beginning to get nervous.

"You were standing up." Oliver looks at her concern, placing the back of his palm on her cheek, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Time seems to stand still for her parents the moment they lock eyes, and Ellie wishes she were anywhere but here. Her mother places her hand on her father's, he squeezes her fingers in return and then lightly brushes his knuckles against her cheek but when her mother sighs softly and _nuzzles_ her father's hand Ellie has checked out and moves away from the nauseating pair in a flash. Her uncle Roy pops up behind her and only smirks at her, he looks at her parents then back at her and wiggle his eyebrows.

"Stop it." She hisses.

Her parents are having a hushed conversation, a conversation Ellie for once does not want to hear, but the fact that her father has yet to turn on her at least comforts her. She knows her mother has not spilled the means, her mother is a big advocate on secrets should only be told be the person keep said secret. So Ellie can assume that if her father finds out who she is, it will be all on her, or he'll figure it on his own.

She looks across at her parents once again and sees that her mother is now looking at her and smiling warmly, Ellie rolls eyes, her mother is going to give away her secret without trying.

"So, how do we begin looking for this stone?" Diggle asks coming back into the centre of the room, both he and Roy thankfully not questioning Ellie about the breakdown she knows they all heard.

"We need to deal with Malcolm first." Oliver says stubbornly.

"By deal I hope you mean kill." Her mother's voice is full of venom when Felicity stands she looks at Oliver head on clearly ready for a fight.

"Felicity, I can't kill Thea's father. I won't do that to her."

"Oliver, she was the one that set him up, he's brought nothing but pain to your sister and you and…" Felicity trails off looking across at Ellie her anger dissipating, "Wouldn't it just be easier to kill him now rather than the stone? I'm assuming he gets his slimy greedy hands on it and uses it?"

Ellie had forgotten how quick her mother's mind can work, "Yes but it's not for at least a decade or less and…"

"No offense, but I'm more concerned about my sister's humanity than your undecided future." Oliver remarks.

At once the rest of the team are protesting loudly and Ellie groans, they are all going to ruin her cover, she doesn't know why she tried to fool herself into thinking she'd be able to keep this secret. She's shaking her head not so discretely at her mother who is pointedly ignoring her.

"Oliver! Ellie would not have come all this way for a joy ride, she came to change the future." Felicity says stubbornly, "And it seems two _decades_ into the future he's still wreaking havoc on our lives. Tell me it's not smart to kill him now and save no doubt the countless of lives that were lost because of him?"

She makes such a compelling argument, add that to the fact that the very two people whom Ellie want to save the most, that suffered at the hand of Malcolm Meryln is standing right in front of her, it's very hard to see logic.

But Ellie knows how its goes, her uncle Barry has taught her so much over the years in particular about time travel and alternate realities and the one thing she cannot mess with is the fate of another person's life. Taking a life before their time is the biggest no no in time travel, the counter effects for that is astronomical and a chance Ellie can't take, no matter how much she wish she could.

"We can't." Ellie says softly, she rubs her face tiredly, the past few days events catching up with her, "This isn't one of those, do you save five strangers or one family member from a burning building thing. This a cosmic order of life thing, going back in time and taking a life before it's meant to be taken can have _terrible_ consequences and that can wreck the timeline so badly I could just cease to exist. It's bad enough that you all know so much about me, but your timeline needs to continue as it did. I only came back here to destroy an inanimate object. Destroying that change the course of events, almost like a domino effect without risking the natural order of life."

"It's like Blondie 2.0" Roy remarks, earning a glare from everyone but Felicity who only grins proudly, but then hides her smile when Oliver looks at her curiously.

"And you're certain Ra's isn't going to kill him, or worse Malcolm sets Thea up?" Oliver asks with uncertainty, his fingers twitching at his side and Ellie knows he's getting impatient.

Ellie shifts uncomfortable, she can't just outright lie to her father, she never could. "I can't really answer that without giving things away and before you get all huffy, you have to remember I am from a few _decades_ in the future. Everything I know about your lives I've heard stories, second hand sometimes third hand stories. My uncle Barry...ugh damnit keeping things a secret is so much harder than you think it would be...anyway my uncle Barry only knew pieces of stories and his memory wasn't the best. He just remembers my mother preferred talking about going off the grid in Bali for a week rather than details like the kind of man Ra's al Ghul was...uh is."

Ellie doesn't seem to notice her misstep until her father spins on her, his eyes narrow suspiciously when he speaks, "Wait, who is your mother?"

It takes everything in Ellie not to automatically look at her mother, but before she can formulate a plan the door at the entrance of the lair slams open and sharp heel clicking the metal stairs echo in the room as a unfamiliar voice yells for her father.

"Oliver!"

An unfamiliar blond walks down the stairs making a beeline for her father, everyone else doesn't seem bothered by her presence so it's obviously not some unknown person, but she's pretty much a mystery to Ellie and for the life of her Ellie cannot recall who else could be helping her parents in the lair when her uncle Roy is still Arsenal.

"The league took Malcolm Merlyn? And Thea said you want to get him back? Are you out of your mind."

"That's what I said." Her mother pipes up, not even flinching when her father glares at her. Her mother always said she was immune to her father's grumpy face.

"Laurel, I have it under control."

Laurel Lance.

Now Ellie remembers, she finally recognizes her from all the pictures her Grampa had. Ellie's confusion was not lost to her mother, whom she forgot has been watching her like a hawk since she figured Ellie out. Now her mother is looking at Laurel utterly stricken, there is only one reason why Ellie would be so confused by Laurel's presence and Felicity has figured it out already.

Ellie is _really_ beginning to hate time travel.

* * *

 _Summer 2023_

 _Six year old Ellie wraps her arms around her uncle Barry's neck tightly, her little legs hugging him as close as possible as she screams loudly in his ear. Uncle Barry is zipping through building moving up and down and all around like a never ending rollercoaster and it's the best feeling in the world. Ellie just wants to raise her hands up like when she goes on the roller coasters, but she knows she's not allowed so instead she screams loudly in joy._

 _When they finally come to a stop in front a small little cottage Ellie frowns, tugging on uncle Barry's mask until it falls back so she can see his face, "Can we do that again?"_

 _Barry laughs wholeheartedly, the joy not quite reaching his eyes, but six year old Ellie is none the wiser, "Sorry kiddo, maybe next time. Uncle Barry has to go back and help your Daddy and Aunty Thea…"_

" _Fight the bad guys I know." Ellie says with a bout, "But whys am I all the way here and not with Sara? Sara and I always goes with Aunty Lyla when the bad guys come."_

" _I know you miss your friend kiddo, but you just need to stay here for a little while." Barry promises, he then looks up and waves at Ellie's uncle Roy who is now making his way down the wooden stairs._

" _Uncle Roy!" Ellie screams loudly already shooting out of Barry's arms and launching herself onto Roy. She then looks at him with wide eyes looking around the house nervously, "Is your name Roy here or do you have anothers name?"_

" _It's Jason, munckin" Roy says warmly pressing a kiss to Ellie's cheek. Ellie giggles her little hand rubbing Roy's smooth cheeks, she's used to her father's stubble cheeks tickling her. "Your cheeks smooth like uncle Barry."_

 _Both men grunt in acknowledgement the tension between the two is obvious except for the six year old. Roy hugs Ellie closer to him his mood sombering when he remembers exactly why Ellie is here._

" _Are you sure you guys don't need some extra pair of hands?" Roy asks._

 _Barry shakes his head in the negative, "Watch Ellie, keep her safe. That's the best thing you can do right now. No one has a clue where you are and it's not like anyone can follow me. They'll be able to work better knowing she's safe and away from all of it. We have some reinforcements coming in. Sara is bringing some of her travel buddies."_

 _Roy nods in understanding and places Ellie on the floor, "Munckin, why don't you go inside and see what's waiting for you in the kitchen."_

" _Did you make cookies?" Ellie asks already bouncing on the balls of her feet in eager anticipation._

" _You'll have to go and see."_

 _Ellie sighs dramatically but nods nonetheless, she walks two feet away from the adults before she stops and spins on her heels and runs to Barry hugging him tightly, "Be safe Uncle Barry. Tell Mommy and Daddy and Aunty Thea and Uncle John I love them plenty plenty plenty."_

 _Barry's breath catches in his throat at her words but her hugs tightly, "I'll let them know."_

" _See you soon uncle Barry!" She calls that over her shoulder as she's already running up the stairs and into Roy's small little cottage._

" _How bad is it?" Roy asks_

" _Really bad." Barry ruffles his hair in frustration, "We don't know how he's doing this, bringing back all these things...I can't even call them people."_

" _And Oliver and Thea?"_

 _Barry only shakes his head in the negative, "Killing assassins is one thing, but they were like family to them."_

" _Thea." Roy licks his lips but then continues, "Thea's going to lash out, and not want help, but she needs…"_

" _I know what she needs." Barry snaps, but then pauses knowing Roy is only trying to help, "I'm sorry, things haven't been easy these past few days. I'll look out for her, you know I will."_

 _Roy nods his head towards his house where Ellie is currently residing, "Bring them back to her, don't let Oliver be an idiot. Ellie can't go through what we all have been through."_

" _Ellie won't suffer that kind of loss." Barry promises, "Even if I have to take them myself and ship them off to another realm."_

 _Roy can't help but laugh at that despite the serious of the situation, "Yea that still freaks me out, that there is a girl who can fly of all things."_

" _Multiple earths you can accept, but a flying girl you can't?"_

" _Dude, free air travel for life."_

 _Both share a soft chuckle for brief moment before they both get somber, Roy holds out his hand to Barry and shakes it firmly, "Be safe Barry."_


End file.
